The AFK Room Returns to Pokemon NAIC
As part of our ongoing partnership with Play! Pokémon, Take This once again set out on a journey to support trainers from all over North America find a calm space to decompress, process, and prepare for an intense weekend of Pokemon battles through our AFK Room Program. Held over three days from June 12-14th, 2026 in New Orleans, the Pokémon North American International Championships (NAIC) is the final International competition on the long road to the 2026 World Championships. The show featured a massive variety of events for multiple games including the Pokémon Video Game Championships (VGC), the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE
What’s most striking about the International Championship series is how engaging they are for the spectators. Throughout the weekend, Side Events run on both an official schedule and on demand as enough players sign up, where amateurs and pros can face off in special formats to earn prize points as part of their Pokémon journey. And it isn’t just the competition itself that gets overwhelming! This year’s show was estimated to have drawn over 16,000 attendees from all over the world, putting the event at capacity for the entire weekend.
AFK Room spaces are low sensory rooms that provide everyone a chance to decompress and center themselves in whatever method works best for them. For some, that’s a quiet spot to charge their phone and listen to music on earbuds. For others, it’s a chance to use coloring or a quiet activity of their own to relax. And should someone find themselves in distress, our trained coordinators are available to provide peer support and if necessary, connect them to appropriate resources.
As one of Take This’ clinical staff, I know how these circumstances tend to impact participants: overstimulation, high stress, and not enough time or space to regulate during the day. That’s what makes our AFK Room Program so important. By providing a clinically informed Quiet Room for Play! Pokémon staffed by a team of trained volunteers, we’re able to offer an oasis to both event staff and attendees to help them have a successful weekend.
Throughout the weekend at NAIC 2026, attendees (and even some staff!) thanked us for the space and provided feedback through our surveys about how meaningful the space was to them. We’re excited to continue providing these services to both Play! Pokémon and the gaming community as a whole, which is made possible through your ongoing support.